Country Roads(114)

They trotted around the paddock twice before Sharon told her to drop to a walk. “Otherwise your muscles will start screaming.”

Julia signaled Darkside to slow down and leaned forward to pat him on the shoulder as they approached Sharon. “I never thought I’d be able to trot on a horse.” She nearly bit her tongue as she realized what she’d said. Luckily Sharon didn’t read anything more into it than a beginner’s nervousness.

“That horse has a trot smooth as satin,” Sharon said. “Course it took all I had to keep him from turning it into a flat-out run when I rode him. For you, he’s acting like a school pony.” Julia couldn’t help the proud tilt of her chin. She was riding a horse who gave trouble to a gold-medal equestrian.

As she left Sharon behind, Julia relaxed into the now-familiar motion of Darkside’s athletic stride. She couldn’t help wondering what it would be like to experience the surge and power of those muscles at a full gallop. He was a racehorse, after all, bred for the thrill of competition. He must miss it. She patted him again. “You’re going to have to wait awhile for that, buddy.”

They came around the corner of the path to head back toward Sharon’s perch, and Julia glanced up to find another figure beside her, one whose tall, lean silhouette she recognized instantly. Her breath caught in her throat and she stiffened, making Darkside pick up his pace. “Easy, boy,” she said absently.

In her excitement about trotting, she’d forgotten the real purpose of this riding lesson. She tried to slow down Darkside to give herself time to think, but the big horse wasn’t amenable to shortening his stride. Giving up on that, she scanned the man standing beside Sharon, trying to read his mood from his posture before she could see his face.

He was wearing a white shirt, the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, pale-gray slacks, and black loafers, so it looked like he’d come straight from the office. He stood outside the fence, his forearms crossed on the top rail, while one toe was slotted between two lower rails. He seemed to be looking directly at her, so she straightened her back, tucked in her elbows, and pushed down her heels. Not that she thought Paul cared about her form on horseback. His concern had always been for her safety.

As she got closer, he turned his head to say something to Sharon, but she couldn’t distinguish the words above the thud of hooves and creak of saddle leather. The deep timbre of his voice sent a shudder of awareness through her. Sharon replied, and Paul turned back to watch her approach.

She pulled Darkside to a halt in front of her audience. “Thanks for coming, Paul,” she said, her voice squeaking slightly. She cleared her throat. “I wanted you to see how well Darkside and I are getting along.”

His silver gaze was shuttered, giving away nothing. “You and he look good together.” A flicker of hope warmed her before Paul continued. “Maybe you can talk Sharon into selling him, so you can take him home with you.”

She flinched and her reaction set Darkside sidling sideways. Somehow she focused her attention on the horse enough to bring him to a stop again. It gave her time to absorb the very deliberate blow Paul had dealt her.

Maybe he was angry because she’d dragged him out to the stables without an explanation. Or because she was on Darkside’s back. Or both. But it was unlike him to lash out. Even Sharon was eyeing him with surprise.

“I don’t think Sharon wants to give him up.” The prospect of losing both Paul and her whisper horse was what had kept her awake and painting the night before. She decided to give herself time to think. “I just learned to post.”

Signaling Darkside to move, she urged him into a trot and began posting. Sharon called out something about diagonals, but Julia was too lost in the misery of Paul’s comment to pay attention.

Why had she thought it was a good idea to force him to watch her ride a horse he thought was dangerous?

Sharon’s words about Darkside behaving like a school pony for her drifted into her memory. A spine-steeling rush of confidence snapped her out of her funk. Even if it made him mad, Paul needed to see her in control of something powerful, something risky. She needed him to see her that way.

Out of nowhere, a deer sailed gracefully over the fence and landed in the paddock. Darkside shied hard right, and Julia pitched out of the saddle to the left, her back scraping against the fence before she walloped into the ground, knocking the air out of her with an “oof.” She lay staring up at the sky, trying to suck oxygen into her deprived lungs. A string of curses and the pounding of hooves sounded distantly in her ears before Paul’s face appeared in her vision.